This invention relates to relatively high-power solid-state devices for operation in the gigahertz range and, more particularly, to high-power gallium arsenide (GaAs) Schottky barrier field-effect-transistor (FET) devices.
Considerable effort is currently underway directed at fabricating solid-state devices capable of providing 1 to 5 watts of saturated power in the 4 to 6 GHz range. Such devices are intended, for example, to replace traveling wave tubes and Morton triodes in high-frequency communication systems.
GaAs Schottky barrier units having multiple gates have been demonstrated to be capable of meeting the aforespecified power requirements in the indicated frequency range. Moreover, it was recognized that if such multiple-gate units could be fabricated in integrated form by a direct processing sequence based on electron lithography, units characterized by high reliability and low cost might be thereby realized.